The Australian’s continued take on a statutory right of privacy.
November 15, 2013
The best job in journalism has to be editor of the Legal Affairs. It is made for lining up behind an issue and just letting loose with Read the rest of this entry »
The Atlantic on the effort to characterise privacy as anti american
November 13, 2013
The Atlantic is one of the best curent affairs in America. It has published some very thoughtful pieces on privacy over the years. In The Effort to Stigmatize Privacy as Anti-American the issue covered is the ridiculous knee jerk reaction to Read the rest of this entry »
ACMA report highlights Australians’ lack of confidence in on line privacy
Zdnet reports, in Aussies’ lack of confidence in online privacy leads them to lie, on a ACMA commissioned report which found that almost half Australian’s provide inaccurate details on line to protect their data from misuse.
It provides:
Almost half of all Australians admit to providing fake details online to protect their actual details from misuse, according to a study conducted on behalf of the Australian Communications and Media Authority.
The research report, Digital footprints and identities, was conducted by Taverner Research and in addition to research conducted across nine online forums at the end of last year, surveyed 2509 Australians in March this year.
It found that respondents were generally aware that their personal information could be gathered, but were not aware, specifically, of how it could be used in malicious ways. As expected, the younger the participant, the more likely they were to generally trust privacy controls put in place by websites, but conversely, they were also more likely to provide false information.
“Users, especially younger users, appeared willing to replace anonymity with what might be termed ‘pseudonymity’. They would do Read the rest of this entry »
Interesting take on privacy in light of surveillance
November 12, 2013
With Tin foil hats need to come back in style if we’re to save our privacy Zdnet takes a lighter look at surveillance and whether Read the rest of this entry »
US states move on privacy law protections
November 1, 2013
I have posted previously on State and local legislatures passing laws and ordinances on privacy protections (see here, and here). Where the Federal Government has ignored the issue, leaving it to the Federal Trade Commission to regulate and take enforcement action as best it can, the States have stepped in. That is a feature of US politics. One level of government will become more assertive when another fails to take necessary action. The Federal Government has done this on high profile issues such as civil rights and with the New Deal legislation during the depression. But it sometimes works the other way. Pension and welfare reform has been undertaken at the local and state level for a longer period and been, in many respects, more effective than the efforts of the Federal Government.
The New York Times article No U.S. Action, So States Move on Privacy Law reports on the activity at the state level in the US. It provides:
Over two dozen privacy laws have passed this year in more than 10 states, in places as different as Oklahoma and California. Many lawmakers say Read the rest of this entry »
OAIC releases the 2012 – 13 annual report
October 31, 2013
The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner has released its annual report today. It is found here.
It is a voluminous document, which is normal for an agency. Chapter 7 deals with privacy compliance. It provides:
Privacy compliance
Overview
To ensure that privacy is valued and respected in Australia, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) undertakes a wide range of compliance activities.
These include running a telephone and written enquiry service, investigating and resolving individual complaints, conducting audits and data-matching inspections, conducting own motion investigations (OMIs) and receiving and reviewing data breach notifications (DBNs).
In 2012–13, the OAIC received 1496 complaints Read the rest of this entry »
NIST releases drafts of computer security publications. Included are guidelines relating to privacy issues, legal and otherwise
The National Institute of Standards and Technology has released drafts of computer security publications. They are found here. They cover a range of topics being:
- Guidelines for Smart Grid Cybersecurity:SP 800-16 Rev. 1 (2nd draft)
- A Role-Based Model for Federal Information Technology / Cyber Security Training (2nd public draft)
Guidelines for the Selection, Configuration, and Use of Transport Layer Security (TLS) Implementations - Guidelines on Mobile Device Forensics Read the rest of this entry »
North East Lincolnshire Council receives a monetary penalty after losing hundred’s of children’s details on an unencrypted council memory stick
October 30, 2013
The Information Commissioner’s office has served the North East Lincolnshire Council with a £80,000 monetary penalty as a result of a serious data breach involving sensitive information of 286 special needs children. Use of unencrypted memory sticks and data cards in phones pose a continuous problem for data security. In this case the stick, inserted in a laptop at the council’s office, was left unattended and stolen.
The news release (found here) relevantly provides:
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has served North East Lincolnshire Council with a monetary penalty of £80,000 after a serious data breach resulted in the sensitive information of hundreds of children with special educational needs being lost.
The information was stored on an unencrypted memory stick and has been missing since the 1 July 2011 when the device was left in a laptop at the council’s offices by a special educational needs teacher. When the teacher returned to the laptop the memory stick was gone and it has never been recovered.
The device contained sensitive personal information about the 286 children who attended Read the rest of this entry »
Canadian Privacy Commissioner reports record high in privacy complaints and reported data breaches
In her last Annual Report (found here) before retiring Ms Stoddart, the Federal Privacy Commissioner, highlights a less than optimum picture of privacy protection by the federal government.
The News release (found here) provides:
Privacy Commissioner’s final report calls for greater care in government handling Canadians’ personal information
Audit of CRA seeks improved safeguards for taxpayer data
OTTAWA, October 29, 2013 — Tabled today in Parliament, the 2012-13 annual report on the Privacy Act is marked by record highs in complaints by Canadians and in reported data breaches by federal organizations. Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart’s final report before the end of her mandate provides details on investigation findings and privacy trends across federal departments and agencies, and also includes the conclusion of an audit into the privacy practices of the Canada Revenue Agency (CRA).
Recommendations to improve CRA’s protection of Canadians’ personal information
Following numerous reports of privacy breaches involving employees inappropriately accessing taxpayer information in recent years, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner of Canada selected the CRA for an audit under Section 37 of the Privacy Act.
The audit found weaknesses in key privacy and security practices that led to taxpayer information not being protected as it should, with thousands of files being accessed inappropriately for years without detection.
Our Office Read the rest of this entry »
On selling of eartag information
October 28, 2013
In Fury over eartag ‘spying’ the cause for concern is the proposal of Meat and Livestock Australia to sell to banks and rural lending institutions private information about farmers income. That can be calculated from that data obtained from the ear tags of their sheep and cattle when they sell stock.
The story provides:
FARMERS are outraged at proposals by Meat and Livestock Australia to covertly sell to banks and rural lending institutions private information.
The farmer’s private information Read the rest of this entry »